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On another trip to Melbourne in February 2007, Thomson spent $1800 on dining at two separate restaurants in a single day, plus $880 for lodgings at the Grand Hyatt on Collins Street.

It appears he lunched at Carlton’s Lincoln Hotel, which is all clean lines and contemporary art, before moving to the equally fashionable Meat & Wine Co.

In evidence to FWA, Thomson said he was attending a farewell for union official Struan Robertson, who also happened to be his half brother.

Thomson defends his behaviour by saying it was just a farewell party. People “wanted to see him [Robertson] off . . . I don’t think that’s inappropriate."

FWA concluded otherwise and in total recorded 156 legal and procedural breaches against Thomson from his time running the HSU, which represents hospital cleaners and orderlies who are among the lowest paid workers in the country.

Its report, which took four years to complete, found that Thomson withdrew more than $103,000 in cash from his union credit cards (he had two), spent more than $73,000 on dining and entertainment and nearly $266,000 on staff and other expenses related to his campaign to win the federal seat of Dobell for the Labor Party.

There was also $5793 on prostitutes. On these numbers it appears Thomson racked up questionable spending of about $440,000.

But this is before considering his move from Melbourne to Sydney. This adds a further $72,000 to the tab.

The FWA report devotes a chapter to Thomson’s relocation and notes his move was just a year before he was endorsed as the ALP’s candidate for Dobell on the NSW central coast.

This was also about the time the HSU began sponsoring a local rugby league team, employed a staff member for his campaign and began a grass roots effort to boost his profile on the central coast.

The FWA report does not explicitly say Thomson moved his office from Melbourne to Sydney to seek preselection, but it certainly views the timing as coincidental.

The overriding point, however, is that union members once again footed the bill.

The report notes the national office of the HSU already had an agreement with the Victorian branch to rent some of its office space for $82,000 a year in Melbourne, home of the Industrial Relations Commission and the HSU’s administrative team.

That agreement had a further two years to run when Thomson moved to Sydney towards the end of 2005.

And he was not content with finding a spare desk in another union office.

No, Thomson opened a new office on Pitt Street in the city at $3000 a month.

“I do not consider Mr Thomson could reasonably have believed that it was in the best interests of the union for him to open a national office in Sydney," the report says.

But it was not just the Sydney office rent which union members were funding.

They also had to cover the cost of Thomson regularly commuting to Melbourne, where most of the union’s business was conducted.

FWA estimates he took 36 trips to Melbourne over two years.

It remains silent on the appropriateness of taking these trips, but concludes that Thomson’s spending was “excessive" during 17 of them.

For Thomson, criminal charges remain a possibility, while he may also have breached electoral funding laws and disclosure requirements for members of parliament.

Prior to the report being released he was cut loose by the ALP and now sits in Parliament as an independent.

His single vote is keeping Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
in power and for this reason she has continued to defend his right to sit in Parliament, as he has not been found guilty of any crime.

That does not hold much water with the public.

For on the one hand the Fair Work Australia report showcases a life of excess – Thomson spent $5450 on valet parking in two years – but equally it demonstrates that no amount was too small to be charged to the union.

On one occasion Thomson pulled out his union credit card solely to buy a $3 soft drink.

He also used it regularly to buy jelly babies, soft drinks and chocolate bars while filling up with petrol. He also purchased two packets of firewood for $27.90 and on four occasions bought cigarettes even though he didn’t smoke.

During his interview Thomson conceded that it was “probably not" acceptable to purchase such things on his work credit card, but didn’t explain why a non-smoker would buy cigarettes.

The other aspect highlighted by the FWA report is the total lack of accountability within the HSU. It appears credit cards were issued freely but spending on them was barely scrutinised.

Not only was Thomson’s largesse ignored, so was the spending of those who worked for him.

Take the example of Criselee Stevens, who began working for the HSU in July 2005.

She was based on the NSW central coast and, according to the FWA report, “had no involvement in the ordinary activities of the HSU".

Her union-funded job was to raise Thomson’s profile in the seat of Dobell ahead of the 2007 election.

All up her employment, which was never reported to the HSU’s national executive, cost members $155,000.

Included in this was $39,000 of spending on her Diners Club card over two years. In only her second month of employment, Stevens spent $382 on a flight from Hobart to Sydney for her son and also joined the Qantas Frequent Flyer program for $82.50.

When asked about the flight, Stevens said she could have put it on the wrong card. “I’m very surprised that they didn’t pick me up on that or question it," she said.